Saint Tathyw was a 5th-century saint of South Wales, and founder of a monastic school at Caerwent where he instructed many of the leading figures of the early Welsh church. [1] [2] [3]
There is considerable controversy over the identity of Saint Tathyw.
King Caradog ap Ynyr (possibly the same person as Caradoc Freichfras) of Gwent's main court was originally at Caer-Guent (Caerwent), [6] but he gave the city to St. Tathyw, while the King let his horse lead him to a new home at Portskewett. Tathyw founded a monastery to the Holy Trinity at Caer-Guent. He lived there many years with his followers and when he died he was buried under the floor of his Abbey Church. [7] St. Tathyw's relics at Tewkesbury indicate that he was reinterred in a reverential shrine some time prior to 1235. His monastery may actually have been at Christchurch, eight miles east of Caerwent. [8]
One story of Tathyw relates that King Gwynllyw of South Wales stole the cow of St. Tathyw. When the monk came to demand the cow's return, the King surrendered his son Cadoc to the saint's care. As a young man, Cadoc received his habit from St. Tathyw and returned to his native country to build a church at Llancarvan and a monastery and college. [9]
It is also conjectured that he may have known King Arthur while at Caerwent. [8]
Another story relates that as a child an angel appeared to Tathyw in a dream and suggested he might spread the Christian word in Wales. [4]
Deheubarth was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd. It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House of Dinefwr, but that Deheubarth itself was not considered a proper kingdom on the model of Gwynedd, Powys, or Dyfed is shown by its rendering in Latin as dextralis pars or as Britonnes dexterales and not as a named land. In the oldest British writers, Deheubarth was used for all of modern Wales to distinguish it from Hen Ogledd, the northern lands whence Cunedda originated.
Caerwent is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and 11 miles east of Newport. It was founded by the Romans as the market town of Venta Silurum, an important settlement of the Brythonic Silures tribe. The modern village is built around the Roman ruins, which are some of the best-preserved in Europe. It remained prominent through the Roman era and Early Middle Ages as the site of a road crossing between several important civic centres. The community includes Llanvair Discoed. The village itself had a population of about 1,200.
Saint Cadoc or Cadog was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learning, where Illtud spent the first period of his religious life under Cadoc's tutelage. Cadoc is credited with the establishment of many churches in Cornwall, Brittany, Dyfed and Scotland. He is known as Cattwg Ddoeth, "the Wise", and a large collection of his maxims and moral sayings were included in Volume III of the Myvyrian Archaiology. He is listed in the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology under 21 September. His Norman-era "Life" is a hagiography of importance to the case for the historicity of Arthur as one of seven saints' lives that mention Arthur independently of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.
Gwent Police is a territorial police force in Wales, responsible for policing the local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen.
St Athan is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier church was dated to the Norman period. The village and the adjacent dormitory village of Eglwys Brewis are known primarily for the MOD St Athan RAF base. There are two pubs in the village, as well as a football team at St Athan Football Club and the St Athan Golf Club. The community includes West Aberthaw.
St. Brides Netherwent is a parish and largely deserted village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. It is centred 2 miles north of Magor, and 3 miles west of Caerwent. The A48 Newport to Chepstow road passes close by to the north.
Llanvaches or Llanfaches is a village and community parish within the boundaries of the city of Newport, Wales. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The population rose to 402 by the 2011 census.
Venta Silurum was a town in Roman Britain (Britannia). Today it consists of remains in the village of Caerwent in Monmouthshire, south east Wales.
Saint Cuby or Saint Cybi was a 6th-century Cornish bishop, saint and, briefly, king, who worked largely in Cornwall and North Wales: his biography is recorded in two slightly variant medieval 'lives'.
Gwent was a medieval Welsh kingdom, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk. It existed from the end of Roman rule in Britain in about the 5th century until the Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century. Along with its neighbour Glywyssing, it seems to have had a great deal of cultural continuity with the earlier Silures, keeping their own courts and diocese separate from the rest of Wales until their conquest by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. Although it recovered its independence after his death in 1063, Gwent was the first of the Welsh kingdoms to be overrun following the Norman conquest.
There is archaeological evidence of insular monasticism as early as the mid 5th century, influenced by establishments in Gaul such as the monastery of Martin of Tours at Marmoutier, the abbey established by Honoratus at Lérins; and that of Germanus at Auxerre. Many Irish monks studied at Candida Casa near Whithorn in what is now Galloway in Scotland.
Gwynllyw Filwr or Gwynllyw Farfog, known in English in a corrupted form as Woolos the Warrior or Woolos the Bearded was a Welsh king and religious figure.
Morgannwg was a medieval Welsh kingdom formed via the merger of the kingdoms of the Kingdom of Glywysing and the Kingdom of Gwent.
Saint Materiana is a Welsh saint, patron of two churches in Cornwall and one in Wales. Alternative spellings are Madrun and Madryn. The name was corrupted to "Marcelliana" in medieval times. Another spelling of her name sometimes used is "Mertheriana" or "Merthiana", resembling the Welsh merthyr - "martyr".
Saint Tathan is claimed to be a fifth or sixth century Celtic saint, who travelled from Ireland to Wales where he founded a Christian church. He is reckoned an early abbot of Caerwent and has dedications at Llanvaches, near Caerwent, also known as Llandathan, and at St Athan. He is said to have been a teacher of Cadoc and to have brought light to the heathens to undo the work of Satan.
Saint Tathana was a 5th-century saint of South Wales. Very little is known of her actual life. She was born c.465 AD and she was the granddaughter of Meuric ap Tewdric of Trebeferad. She lived a humble life as a virgin and hermit in a mud hut on the River Thaw, and was associated with the monastic school of Llantwit Major where she was buried.
Clydog was a sixth-century Welsh king of Ergyng who became a saint. His feast day is traditionally held on 3 November but is also celebrated on 19 August.
The Church of St Stephen and St Tathan, Caerwent, Monmouthshire, is a parish church with datable origins to the 13th century. It is believed to be one of the oldest Christian sites in the county, and possibly within Wales. The church is sited within the walls of the Roman town. It remains an active parish church and a Grade II* listed building.
St. Maches was a 6th-century princess and Pre-congregational saint of Cornwall and Devon. Maches was the sister of St. Cadog.